Good advice, Bob. I know the dangers associated with mercury as well as bromine
and iodine, and am proceeding nonetheless! As far as the silver plating goes,
I have electroplated far more silver than I care to remember, sadly. But that
is for a very different application with way different requirements than the
Dag plates.
I'm actually building my own mercury development box and am taking a lot of time
making sure that it is as sealed up as possible to eliminate any chance of
accidental leakage of Hg. I plan to keep the box in a large tupperware-like
container when not in use.
One thing I have been wondering about for a while, re the iodine/bromine
sensitization: Has anyone ever attempted to sensitize the plates via a solution
phase rather than a vapor phase method? A dilute solution of the halogens in
methyl alcohol, or in a bromide or iodide salt solution in water might be a
more controllable way to do it, especially since the concentration would always
be known.
Thanks,
Brad
Robert W. Schramm wrote:
>
> Frankly, no one should be attemptingthe daguerreotype process (mercury
development) unless they understand the dangers inherent in this process and
know how to protect themselves from them.
> Mercury vapor and bromine vapor are both extremely dangerous.
>
> As far as silver plating is concerned, the standard method uses potassium
cyanide. Ingesting or
> absorbing even minute quantities of this chemical can lead to death. It is
far safer to purchase
> plates than to try to do it yourself. If you do decide to try silver plating,
utmost caution must be used. Also, when plating silver there is a danger of
inadvertently producing fulminate of silver which
> is an extremely unstable explosive.
>
> Fair warning.
>
> Bob Schramm
> Check out my web page at:
>
> http://www.SchrammStudio.com
>
>
Received on 08/20/06-01:39:58 PM Z
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